CBBC’s first-ever online comedy drama Dixi comes to mobile, tablet and desktop screens next month. The show takes a fresh approach to TV for the youth audience, with 30 webisodes shot as selfie-style vlogs.
Dixi is both the name of the show and the fictitious social network on which the action plays out. Teen girl Shari lives her life on the social network but, one day, finds her profile page has been defaced and that her password has been changed, locking her out of her own account. With the help of her friends, Shari sets out to discover who hacked and ‘murdered’ her page and a story of intrigue and deception unfolds.
From 24 February, daily Dixi vlogs will be uploaded Monday to Friday, before and after school. The show aims to encourage young people to experiment with the creative outlets afforded them through the internet but aso highlights the dangers that lurk online, dealing with privacy and safety issues, as well as the real-life consequences of cyberbullying.
“Most of the CBBC audience will be about to take the plunge into that very exciting and unchartered world of social media for the first time. With Dixi we want to really use the vernacular of those sites to dramatise the highs and lows that come with living life online,” said Melanie Stokes, executive producer for Kindle Entertainment, the production company behind the show.
Interactive web chats and additional online content will give fans further opportunities to engage with the show and try to solve the mystery themselves. There will even be a mock version of Dixi available on the CBBC website featuring the profiles of the show’s characters.
